Apparatus for heating and ventilating cars



. 192e 2 shets-sneet 1 R. E. BISSELL APPARATUS FOR HEATING AND VENTILATING CARS Filed Dec. ll

May 5, 1931.

/NvE/vroe: @cw/420 fstz mme/vaat R. E. BissELl. 1,804,144

APPARATUS FOR HEATING AND VENTILATING CARS Filed Dec. 1l, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 5, 1931..

Tra/P/VEVS Patented May 5, 1931 RICHARD E. BISSELL, OF CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THOMPSON PROD'- UCTS, INC., OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION F OHIO APPARATUS FOR HEATING AND VENTILATING CARS Application filed December 11, 1926. Serial No. 154,298.

The invention relates to an apparatus for heating and Ventilating closed-body passenger cars.

Heretofore closed-body passenger cars have been provided with means for ventilating them in the summer time and various arrangements have been employed for heating the interior for winter use, but without provision for causing air from the body .io of atmosphere surrounding the car, uncontaminated by contact with parts of the car, to be heated and delivered into the car.

It is the object of this invention to/,heat the interior of the car and to employ :tor

i@ this purpose a body of fresh air taken :trom

the surrounding atmosphere.

It is a further object of the invention to conduct the cold air which collects in the car body, to a heater, heat the same, and rea@ turn it to the interior of the car at a point so related to the point of intake as to cause an e'ective circulation of the air. rlhe air so heated and circulated is preferably mixed with fresh air which may be admitted through the means with which the car is equipped for summer ventilation or through other means utilized for this purpose.

The invention consists in the apparatus hereinafter described and particularly 8@ pointed out in the appended claims.

In the annexed drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a closedbody passenger car equipped with the apparatus of my invention, the circulating system being shown in dotted lines.

, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the' car showing the circulating system with blower and controls.

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section through the'car taken on ylines III-III of Figs. 1

Fig. 4 is avertical cross-section taken onl known construction, comprising a body 1 having front doors 2, front seats 3 and rear seat 4, a hood 5, cowl 6,` and a vertically movable windshield 7 The engine 8 is provided with the usual exhaust pipe 9, which extends rearwardly beneath the chassis, to discharge the products of combustion at the rear of the car. The products of combustion are utilized to heat fresh air, and also to heat cold air collecting on the floor of the car, which-is then discharged into the inte-v rior thereof.

It is an old practice to utilize the heat of exhaust gases to heat a body of air which is discharged into the interior of passenger cars. But, so far as known to me, it has been employed in such a way as to introduce impure air into the car, and in a manner such that eective circulation is not secured, and many instances have occurred where leakage off/exhaust gas into the heating chamber has permitted these poisonous gases to be discharged into the presence of the occupants of the car with disastrous effeet. This danger has not been so great as to prevent the use of such a heater, and such a heater might be employed with some of the features of my invention, or a heater deriving its heat Jfrom a source other than exhaust gas may be employed, but I prefer to employ a heater constructed in accordance with the principles disclosed in Patent No. 1,605,484, issued November 2nd, 1926, jointly to me and Charles E. Thompson. Such a heater is mounted on the chassis, and comprises a central cylindrical mixing chamber 10, which receives the exhaust gas from the engine through a pipe 11 equipped at its reary end with a nozzle 12 which enters a bell-mouth of the mixing chamber 10, the parts beingv arranged to form an injector, to mix the exhaust Vgas with air. The air enters through apertures 13 in a casing 14, and after passing through a porous material 15 in the casing, vsnch as nickel wool, enters the mixing chamber l() through the openings 16. After the exhaust gas and air are thoroughly commingled in the mixing chamber they are delivered through a series of small apertures 17, into a combustion chamber 18.

Combustion is initiated in chamberlS by means of a spark plug 19, one of the electrodes 20 of which may consist of a catalytic wire, such as platinum. rlhe burning gases pass forwardly and about the forward end of a shell 21 and thence rearwardly along the interior wall lof a closed chamber 22, into which fresh air and cold air from the .floor of the car is conducted and circulated, to be heated by the burning gases and then discharged into the interior of the car. The products of combustion resulting from burning the exhaust gases pass rearwardly through tail pipe 23 to atmosphere. As the patent referred to contains a complete disclosure of the process and apparatus for burningexhaust gases, no further description thereof is deemed necessary herein; but it is to be observed that, as the carbon monoxide is burned, there is no chance of poisoning the occupants of the car, and that the heat produced in this way far exceeds that which may be derived from the heat of the exhaust gas. The means adopted for receivlng and conveying the air to the heater and discharging it into 'the car will now be described.

it is very desirable that air introduced into the car for ventilation and purification shall be as pure as the outside air. For this reason l prefer to collect the air at a point above the engine hood. Most modern cars are equipped with means for admittingfresh air to the drivers compartment, such as a vertically adjustable windshield, or a pivoted and adjustable deflector covering au opening in the top of the cowl, and f have found it convenient, in carrying out my invention, to utilize such means, and in the drawings f have shown my invention applied to that type in which the windshield 7 is of one piece and is arranged to slide upwardly to provide an inlet space 25 beneath the lower edge of the shield and extending the full width thereof. .er plate 26 is spaced from the cowl and is so secured to adjacent parts as to provide a closed chamber 27 communicating with the air inlet 25. An inlet pipe 28 extends downwardly from one end of chamber 27 and is then directed rearwardly beneath the car body and is connected with the rear end of the heating chamber 22, as indicated at 29 (Fig. 5).. After the air is heated in chamber 22 it is carriedl through an outlet pipe 30 con nected to the forward end of the chamber, as indicated at 31, (Fig. 5), and leading to an outlet box 32 supported in the front wall 33 of the car-body beneath the instrument board. It is obvious that the inlet pipe 28 might be connected to the forward end of the heating chamber and that the outlet pipe 30 might be connected to the rear end thereof. The outlet box is preferably so constructed as to provide an elongated cham.A

ber which distributes the heated air uniformly in the car, and is preferably placed well above the floor board where it is not so lilrely to accumulate dust.

In addition to introducing fresh air into the car body it is also desirable to withdraw cold air as it collects on the floor, heat it, and comminglc it with the fresh air. For this purpose, the floor of the car, or the sides of the body adjacent the floor, may be provided with inlet openings 34 at each side connected by means of a cross pipe 35. Cross pipe 35 is connected with the fresh air inlet pipe 28 by pipe 36 containing a damper 37, the connection between pipes 28 and 36 preferably beino such as to provide an injector action. s clearly shown in Fig. 3, the pipe 36 is of less diameter than fresh air inlet pipe 28, passes through the wall of the latter, and is extended for a short distance therein toward the heater. From this arrangement it will be seen that the fresh air going through inlet pipe 28 to the heater will flow past the open end of the pipe 36 and tend to draw the air from the car. -v

ln view of the fact that the fresh air collector of this invention is forwardly directed and unobstructed, the pressure caused by the motion of the car will exert a force tending to circulate the fresh air through the heater and into the car body. Convection and the inertia of the body of air in the car also tend to cause circulation. But when theseforces are not sufficient to give the desired rapidity of circulation, a forced draft may be created,

for which purpose there is provided a blow-` er 38 introduced into a branch pipe 39 and operated by any suitable means such as a small electric motor 40. A valve 4l is fitted in the inlet pipe 28 at its junction with the branch pipe 39 and controlled by any convenient means, whereby, when the operation of the blower is considered unnecessary and is discontinued, the branch pipe may be closed, the air then passing directly to the heater.

rfhe plate 26 forming the bot-tom wall of the fresh air collector is provided with a register 42 which may be opened or closed at will. When the heater is in operation itwill be closed, and at other times it may be opened to permit the entrance of fresh air directly into the drivers compartment.

The fresh air intake pipe 28 and the outlet pipe 30 are provided, respectively, with dempers 43 and 44 by which the inlet and discharge air may be controlled. Where it is not desired to warm and circulate the air collecting on the floor of the tonneau, the damper 37 in pipe 36 will be closed.

Vf hen the invention is applied to a 'passenger bus, outlet boxes 32 for discharging heated air into the passenger compartments may be fixed on the back of each seat, and

Lahaie@ inlet openings 34 may be arranged between each pair of seats or` at such places as may seem most desirable. y

"While l have disclosed herein. a heater which derives its heat from the combustion ot exhaust gases, it is to be understood that, in its broad features, my invention is independent of any particular` form of heater. wlllovvever, a heater of the nature disclosed is particularly useful in that it destroys the deadly carbonmonoxide and also heats the air to a higher temperature and therefore furnishes more heat and better circulation. lt is also to be understood that my invention is not confined to the specific structures shown but includes all changes and modiiications and all rearrangements and substitutions Which ma be made in accordance with the principles isclosed 'and Which fall Within the terms of the appended claims.

What ll claim is:y

l. Apparatus'for heating and Ventilating closed-body passenger cars driven by internal combustion engines, comprising a combustion chamber connected with the engine exhaust duct and into which said duct discharges, a 'heating chamber surrounding said combustion chamber but out-of communication therewith, a fresh air collector, a conduit connecting said collector with said heating chamber, an air intake in the 4interior of said car, a conduit connecting" said intake to said heating chamber, said conduit delivering cold air to said heating chamber, means for burning the exhaust gases in said combustion chamber to heat the cold air in said heating chamber, and a delivery outletv in the interior of said car connected to said heating chamber to deliver the heated air into said car interior. Y

2. Apparatus for heating and Ventilating closed-body passenger cars driven by internal combustion engines, comprising a heater connected in the engine exhaust duct and into which said lduct discharges, 'a chamber surrounding said heater but out of communication therewith adapted to be heated by said exhaust gases, a Vfresh air collector, a conduit connecting said collector With said heating chamber, an air intake in the interior of said car, a conduit extending from f said air intake into said first-named conduit with its outer Wall spaced from the inner.

wall of said first conduit to provide a suction tending to draw the air from the interior of the car body, a delivery outlet opening into the car body and a discharge conduit connecting the heating chamber with said delivery outlet.

3. A heating and ventilating systemior closed-body automobiles Whereinthe energy of the exhaust gases of internal combustion engines is utilized for heating purposes, comprising a combustion chamber constituting a reburner connected in the engine exhaust duet and into which said duct discharges a heating chamber surrounding but out o communication with said combustion chamber, an air conduit connected to said heating chamber and opening to the atmosphere outside of said car' body for delivering cool air to said heating chamber, a second air ccnduit opening into the interior or said car and having an end projecting into but spaced from the Walls of said iirst conduit, whereby the air passingthrough said iirst conduit draws air from the interior ot said car into said second conduit, said air being heated by the combustion ot said exhaust gases, and

means for delivering heated air from said heating chamber into the interior of said car body. n

Signed by Ame this 8th day ot December, 1926. RCHARD E. BSSELL. 

